Sondag, 07 April 2013

How Broken Bones Heal

You have always considered your bones as the strongest parts of your body. They do not easily break. Plus, they are strong enough to provide structure to your body. This is why you think that you are less prone to injuries related to your bones than to other parts of your body. But what you have to understand is that your bones are just as vulnerable to breaking as in any other part of your body. Also, you will find it more difficult to heal a broken bone than to cure wounds and infections.

Bones have different timeframes for healing. Depending on its size, bones can take about four weeks to three months before they fully recover from a break. Your age and general health condition also would affect the length of time it takes for your bones to heal. But there is no cause for worrying because your bones do begin to heal themselves immediately.

As soon as your bone breaks, the veins inside that carry blood also break. The blood that is leaked out form a fracture hematoma. This is a kind of blood clot that keeps the broken parts of your bones together so that they can be mended. The clot also prevents fresh blood from flowing into the fracture or the break. Therefore, the cells in the part of the broken bone die and are replaced with new ones. Fibroblasts produce a protein substance called collagen. Chondroblasts, on the other hand, produce the fibrocartilage that is needed to reconnect the broken parts of your bone. This entire process takes about three weeks to a month.

After your fibroblasts and chondroblasts have started the healing process, osteoblasts get into action and transform the softly reconstructed bone to a harder structure. This following step takes longer, at most four months.

Now, you may think that as your bone already has the ability to heal itself then you do not need to seek medical help anymore. Well, you still do. Medications and other surgical procedures can heal injuries that need to be retracted or corrected in a way more aggressive than the natural healing does. Even braces and bandages would help you ensure that any type of movement would not further disturb or damage the bones that are just starting to mend. Broken bones are difficult to mend. But if you leave them to their own devices they can very successfully take on the task of making themselves whole again. With regards to all bones problem you can ask your trusted osteopath to give you advice about bone healing.